2009-05-22 - Things Falling Apart
Mia Dearden did not come home from school yesterday. She did not call. All of her archery gear is still in the apartment, and all of her "Speedy" suits are accounted for. Gotham PD took one look at the girl's record and wrote her off as another runaway. It has been a very frustrating 24 hours for those searching for her. "I'm sure she's fine," says Zinda to Ollie as they exit the elevator on the top floor. "Maybe you should check your messages again? The girl's got her head on right, I'm sure she'll be callin' eventually," she says with forced optimism. She stops in front of the door to the penthouse, gaze falling on an envelope taped to the front door. She doesn't say anything- she's pretty sure Mia isn't the type to leave a note that way. Maybe it's an anonymous tip? One can only hope. And the last thing that Ollie wants is this plastered in the papers! Ward to Oliver Queen, like Roy Harper. Ex junkie, homeless, who more than likely ran away. Honestly though, he just wants to be sure that his girl is okay. The whole night, Ollie's been on patrol, searching the streets, looking for any suspscious activity, especially near the docks. He didn't even sleep at all last night, the worrying's kept him up, watching the news avidly for any breaking reports of a sudden female body possibly found. And today, the search continued with little success. "I /know/ her, Z! This ain't like her. She's stubborn, too over-eager, but stupid she ain't." The tone is almost biting, but he doesn't mean to take it out on his friend. Its just been a very bad night for him, and the dark rings under his eyes show for it. A hand brushes through his hair as they move to the penthouse door - and he spots the envelope. The man doesn't waste a moment as he moves to scoop it up and open it. "If its a ransom, I'll kill 'em. I'll fuckin' kill 'em!" Inside the envelope is a DVD and a typed note. The note is very short; the words 'starting bid' next to a very large number with a dollar sign in front of it, another number that can be traced to an offshore bank account, and instructions to wait to be contacted again. When the DVD is played, it shows Mia, very much alive but in rough shape, and judging by the way she seems to be drifting in and out of consciousness, probably drugged. A copy of today's Daily Bugle is held up next to her by someone off-camera, and a digital clock displays the time as being just a few hours ago. In the far left side of the screen, partially obscured by shadows, the very edges of another girl's form can be seen, though this one is apparently out cold and not moving at all. Zinda doesn't say anything, she just stares in shock. The sight of the note causes Ollie's face to pale. It is a ransom... When they get inside and they get to his office, where he plays the tape, the man's eyes widen in both shock and horror. He can't pull his gaze away from anything but Mia's form on the video. And when it finishes, he sits there, silent and still - in shock actually. It doesn't last too long though before Ollie's features darken and he stands from his seat. "Fuck!!" He cries out before taking out his anger on the desk before him - sending a lamp, phone, and papers flying against walls. "I'll kill them! I swear to fucking god, I am going to kill them!" Oh, he's only /sliiiightly/ angry. Chest heaving, he goes on with his screaming and tantrum for a few more moments before the rush is drained from him and he looks towards Zinda. "I don't care if I have to fucking die, I'm getting her back." Does that mean he's going to pay? Nope. Ollie's already storming out to head into his training room and grab his GA costume. Zinda just nods. She knows not to try to argue with Ollie when he's in this kind of mood. Or any parent in this type of situation. "I'll see what I can get done for ya on my end," she tells him. Whether it's SHIELD or some other military connection, she doesn't say. "I'll call Huntress, too. And I'll have Oracle go over everything in the note an' video." She looks to the screen again. "Daily Bugle," she notes, noticing the paper. "Chances are they're in New York." A few minutes pass before Ollie returns to his office, costumed already. When Zinda notes the daily bugle bit in the video, he blinks and looks back at the screen. He didn't even notice that, he was too busy looking at his kid going in and out of consciousness. "Bugle," he notes lowly. He knows people that can help in New York... Carol and... "Oh, fuck me," he moans out, removing his hat. He doesn't need Roy! Roy shouldn't even have to get involved in this! There's a heavy sigh as Ollie continues to look at Mia's form. Then, his hands go in the air, "No, I'm not doing it. Totally not getting his ass involved in this." "Who, Ollie?" asks Zinda, frowning as she dials the Birds of Prey Hotli- er, goes through her contact list and sends out a mass text message to everyone on the team, telling them to come to Ollie's if they can. Yes, Zinda can send a text message. Don't ask her how long it took to learn how, or how many innocent cell phones were destroyed in the process. Why was Dinah here? Well, what other reason should she have to visit but Ollie? Okay, well... she had a hunch that something was up. The whole sounds of breaking things from behind the door certainly wasn't boosting her confidence that everything was all right in the Queen residence. Bringing up her knuckles, she raps on the door with a few solid knocks, putting her ear to the door right afterwards. Squinting deeply, she was focused so much it felt like there was a buzzing against her leg, and she could almost make out the strains of a Joan Jett song if she focused hard enough. That was odd. Certainly not what she expected when putting her ear to the door! Backing her head away from the door, she gives it a shake, before putting her ear to the door again. At least, no strangeness this time. Yeah, Dinah was right there with Zinda when it came to modern electronics. "Ollie?" she calls out, her voice lifting. Ollie's quiet for a moment, huffing a bit in anger. "An asshole kid of mine," is the low reply that Zinda will get before he hears the rapping at his door... Looks like they came personally. Really, Ollie's not thinking right now, he's too pissed to. An arrow is pulled from his quiver and set within his hand, no bow. A hand is raised, indicated to Zinda to be quiet for a moment, as he continues to listen for who could be at the door. He doesn't hear Dinah's voice yet as he slowly approaches, mask and hat off like a moron. And then he raises his hand with the arrow in it while the other reaches for the door knob, as though he's going to stab whoever is on the other side... And that is when he hears Dinah. Its such a quick reaction that gets him to deflate. The arrow is replaced in his quiver and he opens the door quickly, reaching out to try and pull Dinah inside. "In, now." He orders before locking the door behind them and then storming back into the office, setting himself on pacing back and forth, trying to think with some clarity on what to do, albeit, its rather hard right now. "If he's your kid too-" Zinda starts to say, but stops as she follows him to the door. She doesn't draw her weapon, but she doesn't stop Ollie from drawing his. "That was fast," she says to Dinah, sounding impressed. And, so Ollie doesn't have to talk too much (she imagines it must be very hard for him), she breaks the news to her. "Someone has Mia. Ransom note just showed up." She gives Ollie a sympathetic look as she dials a number from memory- one she doesn't keep in her contact list, just in case. She frowns as she gets the voicemail, and simply leaves a message telling the person to call her back. Dinah could tell someone was approaching the door, particularly with her listening to it like that. The fact that Ollie was ready to stab her wasn't foremost on her mind, however, concern for the man overriding such things like caution. Not that that was hard to do in Dinah. As the door opens, Dinah's face was showing that concern she felt rather well. Allowing herself to be tugged in, she watches after Ollie storms off, the woman biting upon her lower lip. Thankfully, Z fills her in before she can ask what is wrong. "What was? Did you try to give me a call? Do we have any leads?" Dinah asks in quick succession. A pause from her, as she hears the man pacing, and she moves to the door frame - not to enter his office, but to hang around at the threshold, her silhouette in the doorway to the hall. She was still paying attention to Zinda with half an ear, although her eyes were fixed upon Ollie. He's trying to think, really, really he is. Who should he contact? Who does he want on this case? He needs to hurry... It hurts, it really does, almost like someone kicking him in the ass (which he needs). But he slumps over and sighs, running a hand through his hair, before he pulls out a cellphone, and calls up a number. The man even winces as the other person doesn't answer, but it goes to voicemail. "Roy, call me back... Mia's missing. I --" He pauses to look towards the door, where Dinah is, and sighs once more. "I need your help." Oh-my-god, the amount of pride that had to be swallowed for that! He then hangs up the phone and leans over his thrashed up desk, closing his eyes for a moment to gether his thoughts. "I need to find Robin." Oh, NOW the kid has a proper name. Too bad Mia isn't here to hear that. Regardless, he just stands there, slumped over the side of his desk, feeling the wind knocked out of him. In a low voice, he murmurs, "I fucked up... I totally fucked up..." Guilt? Totally. "This ain't your fault," says Zinda, gently, touching a hand to his shoulder, briefly. "And you're gonna get her back. They don't have any idea who they're dealin' with," of course, neither do any of /them/, either. "Look- they sent Oliver Queen the ransom note, not Green Arrow. They think you're just some rich playboy. They ain't gonna expect the capes an' cowls crew to be workin' this case," she tells him. She looks to Dinah, "and you got a lot of people on your side here." Dinah sighs a little bit at that, likewise stepping to Oliver's side, to lay a hand upon his shoulder. "Now's not the time to think about how you fucked this or that up, Ollie. It's time to find whose ass we need to kick, and kick it, right?" Dinah says, giving his shoulder a little squeeze. She leans towards him, lowering her voice as if sharing a secret - still loud enough for Zinda to hear, however, "Or I'll kick your ass to get you into gear. Mia needs you now - needs all of us, right?" There's a simple nod from Ollie as he listens to the two, and then he actually smiles, letting out a small laugh to Dinah's words about kicking his ass. Looking up at her, he offers lowly, "Missed you, Pretty Bird." And then the sentiment is over as he inhales sharply. "I gotta find Robin. Kid'll be looking for her everywhere. And asking -- Roy --" Yes, he almost choked that out. Standing up, Ollie points to his computer, "Ransom tape on there, if you wanna see... Z said they're probably in New York." Pause. "This was so much easier when I was nabbed for that week..." Once again, Oliver Queen's bank account is being questioned by thugs. Fucking hell. "I'll try to stall them on Queen with the money while everyone gathers intel and tries to figure out where the fuckers have her. She looks - she looks drugged... Or like they knocked her out really bad." And he's making a fist, feeling his anger rising again. "Can't wait for too long. I gotta get her outta there." Pause again. "We gotta..." "I'll go see what strings I can pull," says Lady Blackhawk, before turning on her heel to leave. "You know where to reach me. I'll be in touch real soon," she promises. "We'll find her," she adds one last time, before she's off to tug at whatever decades-old strings she has. "We should send it to Babs, too - that whole detective thing is not really my style." Dinah says, giving Ollie a wink at his sentiment as she rises, abandoning her touch on his shoulder with a little pat. Brushing her hair over her shoulders, she takes a step away from him. Turning towards Zinda as she leaves, though, Dinah nods her head towards her friend. "Take care, Z. I'll be on the phone... things." she says. "It sounds like you have a plan, Ollie." Dinah says, turning her attentions back towards Green Arrow proper. "What do you want me doin'?" she says, a wide smile parting her lips. A nod is offered towards Zinda as she takes her leave. "Lemme know if anything happens," he calls out towards her. Once she's gone, his attention turns back towards Dinah, and he sees that smile of hers. Any other given night, he swears to god, he'd carry her to the bedroom. But with Mia missing, its just too much of a distraction - and he can't stop thinking of her safety right now. There's a downward glance towards the floor and the scattered remains of whatever papers and broken things are there. He'll clean it up another time. "Right now, I want you to have a drink with me, and we watch some stupid ass movie as a distraction." He shakes his head, "Because I can't pull a forty-eight hour binge without sleeping and be on my A game to help Mia." He's already shrugging off his quiver, letting it drop to the floor as he feels sapped of energy. A flicker of surprise crosses Dinah's face, before it is replaced by a smile a few watts brighter than the one before. "Actually, I'd love to." she says honestly, reaching out for the quiver as it is shrugged off by the man. "Let me take that?" Whether or not he actually allows her to take his quiver, and hang it on the coat peg, well, that's up to Ollie. "Although..." she says, her tone of voice a bit warningly, "I didn't expect you to ask such a big favor. I hope you're not one of those intellectual sorts, Mr. Queen - they tend to watch boring movies, and we do /need/ a stupid one." she says. She avoids talking about the binge thing, and Mia in general - purposely, one might add. There's no protest against Dinah to take the quiver from him. "I'm dense as rock, Dinah, you know that better than anyone..." Now is not the time to go down that path of subject matter! "No, nothing boring. I want to go to sleep, but not chase you out of here. You can pick," he offers before leaving the room and heading over across the apartment to where the kitchen is to grab two glasses and filling them with some liquor. Ollie then returns to her and hands her a glass. "I'm really glad you stopped by, Dinah." With that, he indicates with a jut of his chin that they head to the living room - and as proof that she's in control, he hands her the remote and sits down, taking a long sip from that glass before moving to wrap an arm around her in a natural movement. She's safe though, tonight Oliver Queen is not going to try and pull a fast one over on her. He's just feeling - shall we say helpless? And all the pride and egotism in the world won't help him right now. Dinah understood. But still, with a man of Oliver's reputation, it was hard to count that last bit out. All in all, she was very not in the mood, her own mind was rolling with concern about Mia; while she didn't quite know the girl half as well as Ollie could claim, Dinah could see how much Ollie did care for her, and hey, she was a cute little fireball. When she wasn't saying something awful. Lifting her brows in mock surprise as he hands over the remote, that subtle tease goes away with a brief little smile, before she turns her attention towards the television. Electronics and her were not quite the best of friends. On the screen, the menu comes up - then the selection of movies, good so far - in a feat of luck, she moves the selector over the movie 'Armageddon'. In the midst of all this struggle, of course, he slips his arm over her shoulders, and Dinah naturally leans in towards him, her head just a few steps away from settling upon his shoulder. "Huh. I haven't seen this one. Heard it was alright..." Dinah murmurs to herself. Selecting the movie on the remote - success!, Dinah turns her head to smile towards Ollie... when the movie starts to speak in french. The wrong language track! With a murmured curse, Dinah's brow furrows, and she turns her attention back to the remote. Maybe Ollie handed her the remote for some amusement. If he did, or didn't, it works. He chuckles as the movie starts playing in a horrible french dub. His drink is placed on the coffee table in front of them before he reaches out with a hand, if she'd want to hand over the remote so that he can fix it. "Lemme help," he offers her with a smile. As he watches her struggle with the electronics, he remembers why he liked having Dinah around. There's a huff as a thought occurs to him, and although he'd rather not think of the matter, he voices it anyway, "We should take bets on who's gonna get to kick these fuckers asses first, me or you." And he prays its her... For the sake of those thugs. "Oh, we know how these things work already, right?" Dinah says. She was trying to affect a relaxed sort of pleasantness, although her frustration with the remote was shining through. Pausing in her little saying to hand the remote over without complaint, she instead sets her head upon his shoulder, and lays her arm across his belly with a bit of a huff. "You do the fancy arrow work that gets me all 'aflutter'..." Dinah says, fluttering her eyelashes for teasing effect. "...while I kick the crap out of 'em. So it'll be a draw, no matter which way we go, right?" Dinah asks. She wasn't quite as worried for the well-being of the thugs - but Dinah had never quite worried for the well-being of the criminal, usually. If it helped Ollie out some, hell, let him have a go at them after she was done beating them! Her shoulder is offered an affectionate squeeze when she moves to rest her head upon his own. Ollie does quick work with correcting the language and restarting the movie, setting down the remote afterwards to take his drink in hand again. There's another long sip before he smirks and offers, "I /aim/ to please." Okay, bad pun, but he had to. "Yeah, it'll probably be a draw. But betting on it only makes it more fun." After the movie starts again and is in its opening sequence, he moves to lightly rest his head upon her own and enjoy whatever bits of the movie he'll remember. A good hard drink, beautiful woman at his side - yeah, this can certainly help put Ollie's mind to rest, at least for a little while. Regardless of the dubious merits of that pun, Dinah groans anyways, giving him a light jab in his side. "Well, if we bet... I think I'll bet that I'll kick ass first. You can bet against that, but I'd imagine the odds suck." Dinah says, shifting a bit at his side as she settles in. She... rather missed the cuddling the most, she thinks. Idly drawing little spirals across his belly with her fingertips, adding a bit of fingernail to skritch beneath. "...but what is the wager? Who buys dinner on our date... which we -will- have, come hell or high water?" "I'm not that much of an asshole, Dinah. I'm paying... And, yes, we're still having it." Hopefully things will calm down by then, but he doubts it. The jab at his side gets a flinching response from him. "Oh c'mon, I'm trying to be good for once!" He laughs out. "I wouldn't be interested in the odds, but the wagers." Oh, god, he's grinning. Maybe the alcohol is kicking in? There's a lingering pause and that grin slowly fades from his face as he huffs and offers bitterly, "Sure, the one time I get you here, all curled up, my mind draws a blank." With a half shrug, he passes it off with, "I'll think of one later." Dinah opens her mouth for an immediate quip back, but sighs and shakes her head, still curled up against him. "Right, well. If you insist. I do own a thriving business, after all - perhaps even enough to challenge your megacorpowhatsit." she says, drawing the hand off of his belly to wave her hand towards the television in a 'pooh pooh' sort of gesture. "I'll see if I can't think of something, too." she says, turning her grin up towards him... but it certainly had a wicked bent to it. That grin fades, and her hand goes back to caressing across his belly in what she hoped was a soothing manner. "And the famous Oliver Queen, drawing a blank at a time such as this? My, my. Maybe Mia is a good influence after all." Or maybe he was just tired, but she couldn't use that to annoy him a bit. Yes, the motion is quite soothing. Hell, her being here in general is. Ollie missed her voice, the quick and challenging come-backs, and even the smell of her perfume. He's quite content right now, and it is causing his mind to numb with sleepiness. When she makes the comment about Mia, he raises his head and shoots her a look, "Shut up." There's a pause on his end before he adds, "She's a good kid. Sneaky, but good. I under estimate her, a lot." And just to prove that, he adds, "First time she put on the Speedy costume, I had her jumping off buildings." Because a leap of faith is the best way to break in a protege! And just so he doesn't look like a nut, he notes, "There was a safety line... She didn't even use it. She kept jumping over and over again until she learned how to land right and roll with it. The bruises on the kid. I --" He sighs and shakes his head. "I'm shutting up." With a triumphant grin on her lips at the first comment he says, Dinah remains quiet throughout what he says about Mia, her fingers still idly stroking as he speaks on Mia. The movie, going on about some asteroid threatening the Earth, is, for the most part, ignored by Dinah. "What you sound like is proud, Ollie. Isn't that the case?" Dinah asks, a little bit of a frown tugging down the corners of her lips as she cants her head just so to the side - all the better to look at his face and eyes with. And then that weary and worn look appears on Ollie's face. "I am," he starts. "She's a tough kid... But this is my fault, Dinah." Its actually irking him a bit. "I tried helping her, taking her off the streets, and with this - even if she wasn't wearing a mask, this would have happened. Not because of Green Arrow and being his sidekick, like how Roy got fucked up. But because of Oliver Queen, because she's my ward and I try to take care of her." Its a helpless feeling when you're trying to protect someone and not have them fall into the same pits as their predecessor, only to have it backfire. As though forcing himself to shut up, he downs the rest of whatever liquor is in his glass and looks down towards Dinah. Her hand, which is on his stomach, is taken within his own hand, and his calloused thumb runs lightly along her skin. "All we can do is try our best to get her back safely..." Its probably the most logical thing he's said all night, and he knows that kicking himself over it isn't going to help anyone. Dinah's hand wasn't terribly ladylike, either, with the callouses and strength that comes from the severe training she does. But still, it manages to feel delicate in his hand, as she smiles wanly, nodding her head against him. "You didn't try. If you ask anyone around her... or even Mia, when we get her back." Not if, there. "...you did. You gave her a better life, gave her strength and hope, Ollie. Now, you're giving her a dad, and if you ask ~me~, a hell of a good one." she says. "You want to try to nap? I won't move, and I swear I'll get you up if the phone rings. Can't kick ass without my man there to help me do it, after all." she says, giving his hand a squeeze then. A thin line bordering a smile actually appears upon his face. Ollie moves, sitting up and pulling away from Dinah enough so he can try to move and offer her a tight hug, if she doesn't move away. "Thank you, Pretty Bird," he whispers out. He'd linger there for a long moment, finding comfort in her form, before he pulls away and moves to stand. "I should try..." Glancing down at her, he offers another quick smile and then he moves away, out of the living room to get out of his costume and try to get some sleep in his bedroom. Oh, she doesn't move away. Sitting up straight, Dinah returns that hug with strength, giving him a kiss upon his scraggly cheek as he steps away. "Anytime, Ollie." Dinah says with a wink to him, drawing back away after the hug finishes lingering. Her eyes follow him for certain, as he travels towards the bedroom, but once he crosses that threshold, she stands up and stretches, letting the movie play on. She was going to try to get back into the film, sooner or later, but first... she needed some food and a drink. It was time to rummage through his fridge. Category:Logs